


Lower Bound

by PartridgeOnAPearTree



Series: Transversal [24]
Category: Dangan Ronpa, Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: But it is interesting seeing the reactions of people who dived in face first sans context, Friendly reminder to read the other installments before this, M/M, Yooo I'm so sorry for the delay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-13
Updated: 2016-08-13
Packaged: 2018-08-08 13:02:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7758820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PartridgeOnAPearTree/pseuds/PartridgeOnAPearTree
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I just forgot to break some crayons.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lower Bound

**Author's Note:**

> Hiii! I'd post a long note and apologize about the long absence, but I already did that in my A/N for 'Fallacious', and I wouldn't want to be repetitive. But really, I'm sorry! Transversal isn't dropped, my life is back in order, I know how to write again, good stuff! If you wanna talk, you know you can reach me via Tumblr (partridgeonapeartree) and via Twitter @irl_junko!!!

“You’ve been really quiet, Komaeda-kun.”  Naegi leans his head on Komaeda’s shoulder, looking up at him with a smile. “Care to tell me? It’s still gonna get a while before we get there, so we have plenty of time to talk. But if you'd prefer to rest, then that’s okay too. You can rest on my lap, if you want.”

 

The movement of the train was gentle, perfect for a good nap. He's starting to think of being the one to sleep if Komaeda doesn’t want to take the offer… “Haha, I'm sorry for worrying you. I'm just thinking about what possible conversations I might have with your family later.”

 

“So you're still nervous about later.” Naegi lets a frown manifest in his voice. “I'm sorry. I wish I could comfort you more effectively.”

 

“No, no, it’s not your fault at all!” Komaeda sighs as he leans his head against Naegi’s too. “It’s just normal to be nervous, right? I'm sorry… It’s not that I doubt your encouragement. I guess this is really just part of the experience.”

 

“Alright. If I can’t make it go away, then I’d just be with you all throughout.” Naegi squeezes his hand. “I won’t leave your side if that will help.”

 

“Thank you so much, Naegi-kun.” Komaeda squeezes his hand back. “Everything will be so difficult without you.”

 

“Hey, don’t make it sound like I'm anything too great now.” Naegi lets himself chuckle. “If anything, I should be the one saying that, you know. There are things that would be impossible if you're not with me. That’s a fact.”

 

“Thank you…” Komaeda smiles a bit, a light blush on his cheeks. “That means a lot to me.”

 

Naegi plants a soft peck on Komaeda’s cheek. “Do you want to talk about something else so that you can distract yourself? Or will you feel better if you take a nap?”

 

“I think I’d appreciate a nap, thank you.” Komaeda lets out a sheepish chuckle. “Now that I think about it, if I don’t nap now, I might be groggy later. I wouldn’t want to make a bad impression.”

 

“I'm sure they'd understand.” Naegi pats his lap anyway, and Komaeda promptly rests his head on it. “But alright. I’ll just wake you up when we get to the station. For now, sleep all you like, Komaeda-kun. I’ll keep you safe.”

 

“I know.” There was Komaeda’s light blush again, and he smiles contentedly as he closes his eyes. “I know I can count on you, Naegi-kun.”

 

Komaeda must be really tired because he drifts to sleep shortly after.

 

Oh, well, there goes Naegi’s chance of being the one to sleep on this trip.

 

\--

 

The trip is pretty uneventful, and there's not much to see especially since it’s nighttime. Houses whose designs are feeling more and more repetitive each time another one lines up are all Naegi could see, and frankly, that isn’t very entertaining to watch.

 

Naegi idly runs his fingers through Komaeda’s hair as he looks outside the train anyway. The spaces in between the boring and similar houses make way for Naegi to see as far as whatever his eyes can reach, and he's honestly impressed at the number of tall buildings that he keeps on seeing from afar.

 

Naegi has a penchant for high places. That’s something he realized because of frequently hanging out in the rooftop with Komaeda. Seeing many things at once make him feel powerful, no matter how trivial that may sound to another person. The building of Hope’s Peak isn’t even that tall, so he wonders how he would feel if ever he were to climb one of the buildings that he sees.

 

For example, that building that has sixty floors and an observatory on the highest floor. Naegi can loosely recall going there with his parents when he was a child, and if his memory serves, then the observatory was a closed space with clear windows. Pity, he would have preferred if it were an open area just like a rooftop, but he supposes that that kind of setting is nothing but an invitation to danger.

 

Not like he would care.

 

Everyone could just drop down to their demise, and he wouldn’t even bat an eyelash as long as his ambition wouldn’t get affected.

 

His eyes drift to Komaeda who remained sleeping on his lap. Naegi wonders if sleepiness is contagious because he feels like he gets drowsier each time he looks at Komaeda. He briefly gets reminded that that was why he was looking out the window in the first place despite the scenery—if it can be called that—being ridiculously uninteresting.

 

He continues running his fingers through Komaeda’s hair, though this time, it wasn’t as idle as before.

 

This is an exception, Naegi thinks. Maybe he would bat an eyelash if it were Komaeda who will drop dead.

 

\--

 

Naegi only realizes that he too has fallen asleep despite his efforts not to when he feels a vibration on his pocket. He immediately blinks, scanning his surroundings, his eyes darting to the name of the station flashing on one of the screens of the train. He relaxes when he sees that there are still three stations left before theirs, and he puts his hand inside his pocket to see just exactly what woke him up.

 

[ _Where are you?_ ]

 

[ _Komaeda is with you, isn’t he?_ ]

 

[ _Where did you take him?_ ]

 

Ah. Of course. Naegi almost rolled his eyes. He's starting to wish that Project Hope is already done by the time he and Komaeda go back to Hope’s Peak.

 

He types a fast ‘ _Who is this? :)_ ’ before pocketing his phone again.

 

Hinata’s reply came as soon as Naegi sent his. Maybe he shouldn’t have pocketed his phone, after all. ‘ _Stop acting dumb. You know who I am. Now tell me where he is. Why do you insist on keeping the both of us away from each other anyway? What, you're scared that I’ll tell him about you?_ ’

 

‘ _Tell him about me? But I'm not even hiding anything from him, Hinata-kun. Just the mere thought gives me goosebumps. Besides, you're the one hiding something from him, aren’t you? You haven’t told him yet that you're from the Reserve Course :( Please tell him soon, Hinata-kun. I just find it so sad that you're hiding something from him._ ’

 

Naegi isn’t stupid. He knows that Hinata’s trying to get any kind of response that deserves a screenshot. Now Hinata can’t capture this conversation without having to reveal his secret too. This time, Naegi actually rolls his eyes.

 

“Komaeda-kun?” Naegi gently shakes Komaeda as he pockets his phone once again. “We’re almost there. It’s time to wake up.”

 

 When Komaeda stirs and shows him a sleepy smile, he smiles back.

 

\--

 

“This is really it, isn’t it…?” Komaeda’s voice sounds far away, almost as if he was just talking to himself.

 

Naegi softly chuckles, softly touching Komaeda’s side with his. “I’ll just be here all throughout.”

 

“You said your house is really near the station…?”

 

Naegi nods. “On the bright side, at least we won’t be walking too much now, right?”

 

Komaeda chuckles too, but it came out sounding really forced. “Haha, this is embarrassing, but I get even more nervous with each step we take!”

 

“Would you want to stop for a few minutes and just psych up yourself?”

 

It takes a while before Komaeda replies, almost as if he thought hard about that simple question. “Yes, please.”

 

“Alright.” Naegi walks to the nearest spot that he can call ‘not so busy’, Komaeda closely following him. Komaeda obviously is so nervous about this whole deal that it’s almost endearingly annoying. He understands though. Komaeda is terribly fond of him. This result is to be expected.

 

Naegi wonders if he too will be as nervous if ever he was given the chance to meet Komaeda’s parents.

 

Oh, well, that opportunity has been stripped away from him anyway.

 

“I'm so sorry for being troublesome.” Komaeda lets out a breath that seems like he has been holding for too long. “Can you… ask me something that they might ask me?”

 

“Oh.” Naegi slowly nods. “If it will make you feel better, I will. But I want you to know that we’re really just a normal family, I promise.”

 

Komaeda knits his eyebrows together, biting his lower lip. Now that Naegi thinks about it, he hasn’t seen Komaeda in concentration this deep before. Maybe he’d actually be sincere if he says that Komaeda is being endearing, after all. “Go on, Naegi-kun. I'm ready.”

 

“Okay.” Naegi clears his throat. “What exactly does your talent mean?”

 

“Oh, um…” Komaeda blinks, furrowing his eyebrows even more. “Good luck. I have really good luck. I mean, sometimes, it doesn’t seem like good luck, but—”

 

Komaeda interrupts himself. Naegi looks at him curiously. This is just taking too annoyingly long.

 

“I'm sorry.” Komaeda sighs. “I shouldn’t babble and babble when talking to them. I should cut it right there at ‘I have really good luck’, shouldn’t I?”

 

“I'm sure they wouldn’t really mind if you acted just like the usual, Komaeda-kun.”

 

“I just—haha, this is so embarrassing—want to be at my best.” Komaeda pauses. “No matter what ‘my best’ is.”

 

“Oh, come on now.” Naegi flashes him a smile. “I'm under the impression that you're always at your best even if you don’t try, Komaeda-kun. Was I mistaken?”

 

“No… well, no, I don’t know.” Komaeda lets out another sheepish chuckle. “I don’t… think I seem like at my best any time at all, to be honest.”

 

“Well, I guess that just makes things even more amazing.” Naegi nods. “Because even if you don’t think you're at your best, you still manage to look so great.”

 

“Thank you.” Komaeda finally returns his smile, but it came off looking embarrassed. “I'm still nervous… but I think I'm ready to go on now.”

 

“Good.” Naegi smiles and offers his hand to Komaeda. “Let’s go then?”

 

\--

 

Komaeda claimed to be “so nervous I think I'm really honestly going to throw up” when they finally reached the outside of Naegi’s house. That was when Naegi actually realizes exactly how tired he is and how increasingly annoying the unnecessary delay Komaeda keeps on causing.

 

“Ah, haha… This is a terribly embarrassing thing to declare now of all times, but I, haha, I think I can’t do this—”

 

“Shhh.” Naegi puts a finger on Komaeda’s lips to silence him. It worked, fortunately. “Look, you're going to be great, Komaeda-kun. I know they’ll all love you even more than they already do. I'm sure of it.”

 

“Well, it’s true that they're already pretty fond of me thanks to you, Naegi-kun… but I promise, the moment I step in there, they’ll realize how pathetic I am!”

 

“Komaeda-kun, don’t be ridiculous.”

 

“I'm sorry. I'm not trying to imply that your family is a judgmental bunch, but it’s just that, I believe that someone like me is terrible enough to grate on the nerves of even the nicest people, so—”

 

“Komaeda-kun, what's even more grating is that you won’t just listen to me.” Komaeda immediately quiets down when Naegi says that. “I take it that you don’t believe the things that I'm telling you when I encourage you.”

 

“No, I'm sorry, it’s not that, Naegi-kun, I already told you that I just have difficult time trusting myself to do a good job—”

 

“But you said that you trust me. Yet you keep on contradicting everything I say. What is it really then, Komaeda-kun?”

 

“Naegi-kun—”

 

“Hello?” A male voice interrupts them. “Makoto? Is that you?”

 

Both Naegi and Komaeda turn to the source of the voice, and truthfully, Naegi is thankful for the interruption. Naegi immediately puts on a smile when he sees who exactly it was—his father, and it was as if he hasn’t aged a day.

 

“Makoto, it really is you!” His father grins, opening the gate of their house wider. Naegi welcomes the embrace that came afterwards, and his father turns to Komaeda as soon as they pull away. “I see that you're Komaeda-kun, huh?”

 

“Ah,” Komaeda straightens his back. Naegi internally debates if that was a conscious action. “Yes, that’s right, sir. I'm Komaeda Nagito. I'm pleased to make your acquaintance.”

 

“A formal fella, aren’t you? Or are you just nervous? It’s okay, it’s okay!” His father pats Komaeda on the back twice. “I'm Naegi Hayato, the father of Makoto here.” He pats Naegi twice on the back as well. “It’s a pleasure to meet you too, Komaeda-kun!”

 

“The pleasure really is mine.” Komaeda smiles, lightly bowing his head. “Naegi-kun—Makoto-kun. Makoto-kun has been really kind to me.”

 

Naegi keeps himself from raising his eyebrows. He knows that the reason why Komaeda shifted to his first name is because he must have felt it was awkward to continue referring to him with his last name in front of people sharing the same surname. But still, he hasn’t expected Komaeda to be able to do that when all he did up until now was to stress about his nervousness.

 

“Good to know! He's been telling us good stuff about you too. So I think we really should thank you for taking care of our son when we can’t.”

 

“Ah, no, no,” Komaeda waves his hands in front of himself. “If anything, I'm the one who's being taken care of. But thank you so much for letting me be with him. It’s an honor far too big for me.”

 

Naegi’s father just grins again as he nods to the front door. “Aya and Komaru both are waiting for the two of you inside.”

 

Naegi holds Komaeda’s hand again, ignoring the annoyance that he felt earlier. Komaeda immediately returns the gesture as they walk inside the house.

 

\--

 

Between his parents, Naegi has always preferred his mother over his father.

 

Not that he dislikes his father or anything. It’s just that—

 

\--

 

“Is it true, Makoto?”

 

Naegi and his father are sitting face to face with nothing but a low wide table keeping the two of them together. Naegi is staring at the floor, his two tiny hands resting on his lap. He shakes his head as he looks up, finally looking his father in the eyes. “I'm always nice to everyone, Papa. Mama always says that I'm a good boy, so I wouldn’t want her to feel bad. And I heard you were so proud talking to your friends about me too, Papa. Of course I wouldn’t want you to be sad too.”

 

“But Kaname-kun’s mother told me that Kaname-kun is saying you pushed him off the slide.”

 

Naegi bites his lower lip. “Papa, you believe Kaname-kun more than me? He always calls everyone names and lies about owning airplanes and yachts at home. Maybe he's just lying again because he hates me.”

 

“Does he now?”

 

Naegi nods. “He broke my crayons the other day, but I didn’t tell you and Mama because I was scared Kaname-kun would come and find me.”

 

“May I see your bag?”

 

“He threw my crayons away after breaking them all, Papa.”

 

“Makoto, may I see your bag?”

 

“My crayons are already gone—”

 

“Let me see your bag.” His father interrupts, holding out a hand to him. “Now.”

 

Naegi felt defeated, handing his bag to his father and chanting an incessant prayer in his head. His wishes prove to be in vain when his father shortly takes out a box full of untouched and flawless crayons. He waves the box at Naegi almost disappointedly, and Naegi returns his gaze to the floor, bracing himself for whatever might come next.

 

“Look, it even got your name on the box. Just like your mother wrote for you to make sure you don’t lose anything.” His father speaks again.

 

Naegi gets the brief sense that he should start apologizing, but he remains quiet.

 

“Makoto, listen. You have it in yourself to be the better person. And this is most certainly _not_ the way to do it.” His father opens the box, slightly shaking his head as he looks at the crayons inside. “Look at me.”

 

Naegi hesitantly looks up, a mix of shame and nervousness on his face.

 

His father gently slides out all the crayons, laying them all on the table in a neat line as they rest side by side, almost as if to show Naegi exactly how ‘not broken’ they all look. Naegi’s shame seems to triple each second, but that sensation disappeared when his father picked up a few of them and broke those in half.

 

“I expected more from you.” His father continues speaking in that regretful tone. “Makoto, if you're going to say that someone broke your crayons, make sure to break them beforehand. If you're going to push someone off a slide, make sure that you're not the only one with the person that you pushed. Do you understand that?”

 

Naegi immediately nods, and he wonders if it would be an exaggeration to say that he felt almost dizzy when he did so.

 

He becomes sure that he might be indeed slightly dizzy when all the previously flawless crayons now lay on the table all in half.

 

“Give me your water jug.” Naegi practically scrambles through his bag and hands his father the jug as fast as he can.

 

His father pours a small amount of water on the floor—not enough to puddle, but way more than a few drops. He steps on it after a while, the dirt on his shoes mixing with the water. The floor was dirty now, Naegi can only imagine the stress his mother would feel upon seeing it, and the next words that his father spoke gave him even more confusion.

 

“Sit on it.”

 

“…Papa?”

 

“Makoto, sit on it.”

 

His father wasn’t usually this serious. Normally, he's just goofy and he grins a lot, so it was a first for him to see his father like this. His previous feelings of shame and nervousness started to have a tinge of fear with them, so he sits down, feeling the wetness of the dirty floor sully his pants.

 

“The edge of the slide was wet, and Kaname-kun stepped on it while running on his excitement to play and slide down.” His father crouches, looking Naegi in the eyes, and he can’t bring himself to look away. “He slipped, causing him to lose balance and fall from the slide. And that’s why he's injured right now.

 

“You were there, Makoto. You wanted to slide down after him, already sitting down on the wet edge, but when you saw what happened, you got scared and ran away.” His father pauses. “That’s what happened.”

 

Naegi could only nod.

 

“I'm on your side, Makoto.” His father places a hand on his shoulder. “What did Kaname-kun really do to you?”

 

“He called me weak for not joining in his game where the boys will punch each other.”

 

“That’s it?”

 

“It’s my first time hearing anyone say anything bad about me.” Naegi bites his lower lip again. “I like everyone in our class. They respect me and say good things about me. All except Kaname-kun, so I wanted Kaname-kun to go.”

 

“Good.” His father grins, offering him a hand. He promptly takes it, and he was thankful that his father’s grip was firm because he would have slipped and lost his balance for real because of this puddle that they created if not. “Tsk, tsk, Makoto, you're a really playful kid, aren’t you? But it’s okay, it’s okay! Kids are only kids once! When I was a kid, I played a lot too! But next time, after playing, make sure to change your clothes after you get home. Your pants are still dirty because of playing on the slide, after all!”

 

“Right. Next time, Papa.”

 

“Next time.” His father nods, still with a grin. “But for now, we’re going to explain to Kaname-kun’s mother what really happened, and show her the crayons that her son really rudely broke, alright? I’ll just buy you a new box of crayons after this! Don’t be sad now!”

 

“I'm at my happiest right now.” Naegi smiles then. “Thank you, Papa.”

 

“Wait, one last thing, Makoto?”

 

“Yes?”

 

His father grins again. “Don’t tell Mama.”

 

\--

 

—It’s just that, sometimes, he feels like he and his father are too similar.

 

\--

 

“Oh, my, you're even cuter in real life!” Naegi’s mother, Naegi Aya, immediately wraps Komaeda in a tight embrace the moment she sees the other. “Your hair is as soft as it looks! Ahh, I already told Makoto this, but when I first saw your photo, I really thought you were the model in his class!”

 

Komaeda is handling this better than Naegi expected. Komaeda was chuckling, a light but still perceptible blush on his face, as he replies. “Thank you so much. I don’t think I'm nowhere near the attractiveness of a model, but that really means a lot to me coming from you.”

 

“Don’t be silly! You're so cute! I mean it!” Naegi’s mother gives him a firm squeeze before finally pulling away. “Komaeda-kun, this is Komaru. She also agrees with me that you're really good-looking!”

 

“Komaru-san, nice to meet you. I'm Komaeda Nagito.” Komaeda offers her a hand, and Komaru cheerfully shakes it. They seem to be really fond of Komaeda in an instant. Naegi finds it almost comical that they greeted Komaeda first before him. Not that he minds. It’s just that he's now realizing even more how pointless Komaeda’s delays were earlier.

 

They were shortly invited to dinner after that, and Naegi embraces himself for endless questions about himself and Komaeda.

 

\--

 

“Onii-chan has mentioned that you're an upperclassman, Komaeda-san.” Komaru says as she pours tea into all the cups on the table. “So you have a different set of classmates from Onii-chan then, right? I just wonder if maybe I know some of yours. I mean, I'm a really huge fan of Maizono Sayaka, and it turns out she's Onii-chan’s classmate!”

 

Right. Komaru has always been a fan of Maizono. Naegi can remember her mentioning that Maizono has over a hundred million fans and that they call themselves Sayakers. He can see why she’d be so popular—she's good at what she does, after all—but he suddenly can remember that certain time when he hated her voice for a while because Komaru won’t stop playing her songs on repeat.

 

“Let’s see… If you're into photography, then you might know Koizumi Mahiru-san. If you're into light music, then you might know Mioda Ibuki-san. Then there's Sonia-san as in Sonia Nevermind, the princess of Novoselic. I remember hearing her name a couple of times from the news back then, so you might know her too.”

 

“Ah! I do know Sonia-san! It seems so cool having a princess as a classmate!”

 

“Haha, well, yes. Sonia-san is lovely indeed. We are all really fond of her.”

 

Komaeda continues telling Komaru about some of his classmates who are possibly known to her, and Naegi drowns out the sounds of their conversation. He focuses on the food in front of him. After all, in all honesty, he really likes his mother’s cooking.

 

He isn’t really picky with food, though if he were to think about what he might dislike, he’d say dried mackerel and dried bean curd. His mother always makes sure there are at least two choices of food anyway, so he doesn’t really think about his dislikes a lot.

 

Besides, his mother really cooks well. That’s something he can say wholeheartedly. After all, his mother says, her cooking is always filled with love.

 

\--

 

“Say, Makoto,” He can remember his mother saying one time as she treads her fingers through his hair. “Do you have someone you like already?”

 

“Someone I like?”

 

“When you find that person you like, make sure that you'll never ever let them go. No matter how difficult things might be or how many challenges stand in between the two of you, you have to stay firm and do everything you can…” His mother giggles quite demurely, even lightly covering her mouth with her hand. “Sorry, I was just being silly! Of course you're still pretty young. It’s too early to be thinking of things like this!”

 

Naegi just kept quiet, snuggling closer to his mother’s touches. He felt that she had more to say, so he wouldn’t want to interrupt her by accidentally saying something that can derail whatever topic she already has in mind that moment.

 

“I believe I never told you this…” His mother hums as she continues running her fingers through his hair. “Your Papa always ran his fingers through my hair back then. Because of that, I associated that gesture with comfort, intimacy, and love. Right, you know, the moment I saw him, I knew right away that he was the one.”

 

Naegi just makes a sound to show that he's listening.

 

“Your Papa was so cool. I fell in love with him right away when I saw him. I was so happy whenever he looked at me!” His mother giggles again. “That’s why I made sure back then to always hang out in places where he might be so that he’d get used to seeing me around. That way, even if we don’t immediately talk, he’d at least be familiar with my face. It was such a good tactic! I still can’t believe sometimes that we’re already happily married—and with a beautiful son too!”

 

Naegi nods, humming a bit. “So how did you and Papa first talk to each other?”

 

“Well,” His mother’s smile gets the slightest hint of being giddy before it turns back to her look of fondness. “I always followed your Papa around whenever I can, so I started to learn some things about him that might be secrets. Of course I never revealed whatever I found to anyone though because I wouldn’t want to do that to anyone I love! One of the things I found out was that your Papa might have needed a bit of help that he can’t ask from anyone else. I thought that was a perfect opportunity to finally talk to him by offering my help to him!”

 

“What did you help Papa with, Mama?”

 

“That,” His mother giggles again, ruffling Naegi’s hair. “Is a secret. Anyway, after that, things just kept on getting better! Your Papa thought that he has never found anyone like me before, and that he has never really been fond of teamwork. If anything, he really hated it before! But when he teamed up with me, he realized that it wasn’t so bad to work with me, after all. I can even remember the exact things he said back then. Do you want to hear it?”

 

Naegi nods.

 

“He said, ‘I enjoyed teaming up with you. I don’t think I’d be able to take it if we won’t team up forever.’” His mother closes her eyes briefly and lets out a happy sigh. “I’d always look back at that memory with fondness. I was so happy that moment because I felt like all my hard work finally paid off. Especially since your Papa was actually pretty popular, being so cool, so I had a lot of rivals I had to consider. I made sure to know all of them! Their names, where they lived, what contact numbers they used, their email addresses! But then again, they never really managed to get closer to Papa because one day they all coincidentally went missing… Up until now, no one knows where they went!”

 

“Wait a second…” His mother pauses for a while, suddenly seeming to be in deep thought, before going back to her warm smile. “Now that I think about it, I never told your Papa about me knowing about all his admirers! Makoto, dear, you'll be a sweetheart and keep it a secret, right?”

 

Naegi nods again.

 

\--

 

Komaru. Naegi’s sister. If Naegi were to be asked, he would say that she might be the nicest person in their family. Komaru is nothing extraordinary, and all her abilities are just what a normal person could do. Her interests are what girls her age usually like, to the point that she would actually say that she likes ‘whatever’s trending’.

 

Naegi doesn’t like nor dislike her, and the two of them aren’t overly close. The only time they even talk to each other is when they're snacking together or talking about manga they like.

 

Naegi doesn’t really mind her, but to be fair, he won’t really mind anyone anyway as long as they won’t threaten his plans.

 

\--

 

“…I'm really sorry for earlier, Naegi-kun.”

 

Naegi decided to let Komaeda sleep in his own room since it won’t be the first time for them to share a bed anyway. Komaeda was sitting by the edge of his bed like he was just waiting for the cue to be told to go away, and Naegi knows that if he does ask Komaeda that right now, Komaeda really will go and do it.

 

“I like it better when you called me Makoto-kun.” Naegi says, not giving Komaeda’s apology any heed. He sits beside Komaeda and plants a prompt kiss on the side of his lip. “Don’t you think it’s time for us to shift to our first names?”

 

Hesitation shows up on Komaeda’s face again, but he must have remembered why he was apologizing in the first place when he gives a prompt nod. “It would be an honor far too great… M-Makoto-kun.”

 

“That makes me really happy.” Naegi smiles. “Nagito-kun.”

 

Komaeda lightly blushes, and he looks like he had to summon all the possible bits of his courage as he moves forward and wraps his arms around Naegi, leaning his chin on Naegi’s shoulder. “…Are you still mad at me?”

 

“I wasn’t mad at you in the first place.” Naegi snuggles in the embrace. “I was just upset that you won’t see yourself as the perfection that you are. It frustrated me to no end that such a lovely person kept on putting himself down.”

 

“I'm sorry, Makoto-kun.”

 

“Don’t be.” Naegi reaches out and treads his fingers through Komaeda’s hair. “Anyway, they really liked you, didn’t they? I told you there was nothing to worry about.”

 

“I'm still flattered that they received me so well.” Komaeda softly replies. “I’ll do my best to maintain their good impression of me.”

 

“I'm pretty sure they'd keep loving you. I mean it.”

 

“Thank you once again.” Komaeda pulls away, a slight smile on his face. “If only it’s possible, I would have wanted you to meet my parents too.”

 

“Well, we can visit their graves together, right? Just tell me whenever you want to, and I promise I’ll clear my schedule for it.”

 

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Komaeda nods. “I'm sure that they really would have loved you too.”

 

“And I'm flattered you think that.”

 

As Naegi slightly pulls away to kiss Komaeda, he thinks about how lucky Komaeda is and that the reason why they're in Naegi’s house in the first place is because of his luck.

 

That’s when he realizes that he can’t let Komaeda go whatever happens, and that he should do everything in his power to make sure Komaeda stays by him.

 

\--

 

[ _Where did you take Komaeda, Naegi? Answer this question._ ]

 

[ _Why can’t I contact his phone? What did you do?_ ]

 

[ _Naegi, just answer me. It’s not that difficult._ ]

 

[ _Stop feeding his head with your lies._ ]

 

[ _Naegi._ ]

 

[ _Let me talk to him. Stop interfering with our friendship._ ]

 

[ _Please._ ]

 

[ _Please just let me talk to him._ ]

 

[ _I'm begging you._ ]

 

[ _I don’t want to beg, especially after everything I’ve learned about you, but I know that if I want to convince you, being aggressive is not the way to do it. So please. Please let me talk to him._ ]

 

[ _I just want to talk to him._ ]

 

[ _I just need to talk to him._ ]

 

[ _Naegi, answer the goddamn phone!_ ]

 

[ _Sorry about that. Please. Let me talk to him._ ]

 

[ _Naegi._ ]

 

Komaeda is asleep when Naegi checks his phone again, Naegi’s favorite thick blanket wrapped around him.

 

Naegi just scoffs at his phone and rolls his eyes at it before locking it.

 

\--

 

“Your question earlier about me never having a miscalculation—did you really want an answer, or were you just going for the theatrics, Enoshima-san?” Naegi asked that time as he went away with both Enoshima and Ikusaba.

 

Enoshima twirled a part of her hair as she replied. “I’d be so, so disappointed in you if it turns out that this wasn’t your first!”

 

“I never had a miscalculation regarding predicting someone’s actions before, so I'm actually pretty disappointed in myself that my clean record is tainted now. I was worried to have my first miscalculation regarding that, you know!” Naegi let out a chuckle. “But if it’s a miscalculation regarding covering my footsteps—admittedly, this situation has a bit of that too—then of course, I’ve had my share before. I'm sorry to disappoint.”

 

“Ah, I’ve been disillusioned!” Enoshima exaggeratedly sighed. “Perfect Naegi-kun isn’t so perfect, after all! How despair-inducing! What would Komaeda-kun think?”

 

“Cut me some slack.” Naegi chuckled again. “I just forgot to break some crayons.”

 

“Oh?” She raised an eyebrow. “How funny because I broke my own crayons, cried about it so that Matsuda-kun would search for the perpetrator, only to tell him in the end that it was me all along.”

 

“How interesting. I guess we really work differently, after all.” Naegi turned to Ikusaba. “How about you, Ikusaba-san? Do you have an experience with crayons too?”

 

It took a while before she answered. “I acted like I didn’t know who broke them.”

 

“What about Hinata-kun?” Naegi could almost hear the smirk in Enoshima’s voice then. “Do you think he has an experience with crayons?”

 

“Who knows?” Naegi replied. “Someone probably stole his. Don’t you agree?”

 

“Oh, I do.” That was Enoshima’s reply. “How despair-inducing!”

 

And despair-inducing it will be.

 

\--

 

 


End file.
